Too Good to be Bad | Negan |

27 - It's happening

I'm folding laundry one day when Jody enters the laundry room.

'You gotta get to the doctor's office. It's happening.'

'Oh my God', I shout. I'm scared and excited at the same time. We knew this moment was coming. Priya's giving birth.

I grab my stuff and run for the doctor's office. When I get there, Alex and Max are already present and Jody's set off to gather the others.

'Lara?' Priya asks. She seems panicked.

'I'm here, darling', I tell her, and I get to her side to take her free hand. Alex is holding the other.

'I can't do this', she says, her eyes full of fear.

'Yes, you can sweetie, you're going to be just fine.'

I look over at the doctor, who's examining her between her legs.

'Everything is looking good, Priya, if you feel the urge to push, do it.'

With a grunt, Priya pushes, but the baby doesn't come out yet.

'Okay, Pri, just breath, breath.' I breath with her, like I've seen in movies. I don't know if that's actually helpful, because I have absolutely no experience with people giving birth. But I'm sure it can't hurt, right? At that point, Nikolai, Katarina, Kieran, Jody and the kids storm into the room.

'Oh my God, is it happening?' Kieran asks, stupidly. I notice Priya looks at him in horror and when I follow her eyes I see why. He's wearing an apron and rubber gloves covered in blood and gore. His job is still to check bodies for valuables and I guess he didn't get a chance to change.

'Get the fuck out of here, you idiot', I hiss at him. If I learned one thing from the movies it's that a peaceful environment is beneficial when giving birth and he's not exactly bringing that.

'Lara's right, we need peace over here', the doctor announces, annoyed. 'All of you wait outside.'

'Lara and Alex stay', Priya announces while she prepares for another push.

'All of you except Lara and Alex', the doctor repeats.

A little disappointed, everyone leaves the room and Priya starts to grunt in pain.

'You got this Pri, you're the strongest woman I now', Alex says.

'It will all be over soon, you can do it', I add.

She sobs through the pain, but she puts in all her effort and pushes. And not that much later the doctor announces he can see the head. I look at Alex with wide eyes and see my own wonder reflected in his face. We've seen a lot of crazy stuff, but still this natural thing feels like a miracle.

Priya pushes again and again and then we hear cries. I look over as the doctor holds up the baby. It's gross and it's covered in blood, but it's crying it's lungs out and it looks completely healthy. Tears are streaming down my face, but I don't even notice it.

'You did it, Pri', I say, squeezing her hand. Excited, I kiss her sweaty forehead.

'Is that my baby?' she asks in a daze.

'That's your baby', Dr Carson answers. He's smiling as well while he brings the baby over and places it in her arms. 'Congratulations, you have a daughter.'

Priya takes the baby with shaking arms and looks at it. I watch her face and can see all kinds of emotions running over it. But through her tears, she smiles. And I can tell that what she was worried about didn't come true. She loves this baby.

'Who wants to do the honours?' the doctor asks, holding up a pair of scissors.

'You do it', I tell Alex. I don't want to take my eyes off the little thing in front of me.